Franz weetenbeuch



No. 749,828. PATENTED JAN. 19, 1904.

" F. WERTENBRUGH.

DRYING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 12, 1901.

no MODEL.

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' UNITED STATES Patented January 19, 1904.

PATENT F cE.

DRYING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 749,828, dated January 19, 1904.

Application filed September 12, 1901. Serial No. 75,221. (No model.)

1 '0 all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANZ WERTENBRUCH, engineer, a subject of the Emperor of Germany, residing at 14: Noel street, Nottingham, in the county of Nottingham, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Dryingl\ Iacl1ines, (for which I have made application for Letters Patent in Great Britain, No. 3,092, bearing date February 13, 1901,) of which the following isaspecification.

This invention relates to improvements in the construction of machines used for the drying of sticky or adhesive materials, spent grain, and other materials, the object of the present invention being the provision of means whereby a current of heated air can be passed through the machine, means for heating such air, simplification in the construction of the machine, an improved arrangement of beaters for dividing or breaking up lumps of the material to be dried, andimprovements in the general arrangement and construction of the machine.

In thedrawings which accompany this specification and are referred to in the following description, Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of the machine. Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the rear end of the machine. is a transverse section of the front end of the machine. Fig. 4 is a section showing the means and method of supplying steam to the internal tubes, and Fig. 5 is a part-sectional plan showing the method of connecting the steam passages under the sections of the trough of the machine.

The machine herein referred to comprises a nest of steam-heated tubes which are fitted to rotate in a chamber the lower part of which is heated by steam. The rear end of the machine has a greater number of tubes than the front end, and there is an arrangement of boaters at the front end of the machine for breaking up the lumps of the material. The outside of the lower part of the trough, in conjunction with the sides of the machine, forms an air-heating chamber, and the air from such chamber is drawn or forced through the front part of the machine. In the machine shown in the accompanying drawings the drying-trough is composed of a number of semi- Fig. 3

circular sections a, each of which has a steampassage b on the under side. At the front end of the machine the steam-passage under the first section of the trough is connected to a steam-supply pipe 0, and the steam circulates under all the trough-sections in succession and in alternate directions, the steam-passage in one section being connected to the next steampassage by coupling-pipes d, while the steam eventually passes away by the pipe e. The joints between the sectionsa are covered by strips f, and all the sections are attached to girders g. The sections may be in parts jointed together and the girders g be dispensed with, or they may be supported in other convenient manners. Inside the trough is a nest of tubes 71. and it, the former being carried by end plates and '6 and the latter by plates c" and 11 which are attached to the plate 5 and tubes h, respectively. The plates 2' and d have bearings in the end frames j and j, and the whole nest of tubes is rotated by gear-wheels Z: and 7t" from the driving-shaft H, which has bearings in the end frainesj and j and an intermediate bearing The tubes 7L and 72. are heated by steam from a supply-pipe 1, which delivers the steam into a chamber Z. This chamber is fitted inside the boss of the plate 11 and is held in position by a plate Z which fits between flanges Z on the chamber and is attached to the gland Z", or independent means may be used for the same purpose. There is also a drain-pipe Z which is connected to a steam-trap and serves to prevent the chamber rotating with the plate At the inner end of the chamber 1 is an opening Z and in the plate '11 there are radial passages Z with holes 2' and 71" for the inlet of steam and outlet of condensed water to and from the inside of the tubes h and h. The tubes la and h are made with two or more radial ribs b and the outer ribs on the tubes 71 are fitted with shovels or scrapers [L3, which are spaced and the edges bent according to the character of the material to be dried.

The plate 91, at the front end of the machine, is made with a hollow axle, which serves as an inlet for the heated air. The air enters the heating-chamber m through an opening on in the front frame j, passes through the to the upper part.

overthe heated tubes 7L.

opening m in the central dividing-ribs m to the second heating-chamber m and through the opening an and pipe 127. to the interior of the machine.

At the front part of the machine and fixed upon the shaft are a number of beaters P, which are spaced to rotate in the direction of the arrow w between the scrapers or. shovels h" and at such a speed that they pass between the shovels when these are in a vertical position, this action breaking up any lumps of material which may adhere to the shovels.

The upper part of the machine is provided with a cover 0, the lower part 0 being hinged At the front end of the machine an opening 0 is formed in the cover for the introduction" of the material to be driedpand at the center of the cover there is an opening 0 for the escape of the vapors given off by the material. This opening is preferably connected to a chimney for drawing-the heated air through the machine, or the air-may be drawn or forced through the heating-chambers and machine by means of a fan or blower.

When themachine is in operation, the material to be dried is fed through the opening o -and falls to the bottom of the heated trough The shovels 72 then raisethe material until it falls back again oris forcibly removed by the beaters and is at everymovement brought into contact 'withthe heated'air passing through the machine.-

Theagita'tion'o'f the material by the shovels carries it toward'the back end of the machine and after passing the center of the machine is sufficiently dried to pre-ventthe formation of lumps. The material raised by the shovels atthe'back end of the machine falls over the tubes 70 onto the tubes it", and as the -machine' revolves it slips over the tubes it onto the tubes h and is thus brought into contact with a large drying-surface. The back end section of the trough is provided with an opening about the coupling-pipes (Z at the ascending side of the shovels, and through this opening the 'material raised by the'endring of shovels from' the-bottom of the-trough is discharged from themachine. Y

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In apparatus of the kind described the combination of a heated trough, heated tubes revolving in the trough, shovels attached to the heated tubes, beaters revolving between the shovels at a different speed and in the opposite direction, an air-heating chamber and connections between the air-heating chamber and the inside of the trough, substantially as described.

2. The combination of a trough in sections, a steam-passage under such sections, connecting-pipes between the ends of such passages, long longitudinal drying-tubes, and short longitudinal drying tubes inside the dryingtrough, ribs on the said tubes, shovels fixed to the outer ribs of the outer tubes, plates carrying the said tubes, revolving beaters, a steam-supply to the said tubes and a hot-airsupply pipe between the outer casing and the inside of the trough, substantially as herein described.

3. In a drying-machine of the class described, a drying-trough comprising a plurality of sections with a steanrpassage under each section, coupling pipes connecting said steam passages, walls inclosing the space beneath the trough forming the air-heating chamber, and a pipe connecting said chamber with the interior of the trough, substantially as described.

4. In combination, the trough, steam heating-conduits beneath the bottom thereof, double side walls forming an air-space in proximity to said heating-conduits; a division-plate dividing said chamber into two'compartments; one compartment having an a1rinlet, and

an air-pipe connecting the other compartment with the interior ofthe trough, substantially as described.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto-set my hand-in presence of two witnesses.

FRANZ WERTENBRUCH. 

